Birth Defect That Became a Heartbreak

On the evening of Tuesday, March 6, Lester Hodgins arrived at his Sunnyvale, California home, near San Jose. We can only try to imagine his shock when he found his wife, Elizabeth Hodgins, 53, dead of a gunshot wound. Nearby lay the body of their son, George, who had also died of a wound inflicted by the Elizabeth’s gun.

Lester, and his neighbors, quickly understood why Elizabeth had taken the lives of their son and herself. George had spent most of his 22 years with severe autism. Autism describes a spectrum of mental impairment related to the inability to form normal social relationships as well as the inability to communicate with others. It also manifests certain stereotyped behavior patterns. George’s impairments, according to a neighbor, were low functioning and high maintenance. He was unable to speak and easily agitated. Some typical ASD characteristics are:

Repeated or purposeless movements such as hand flapping, body rocking or sound making

Lack of awareness, or understanding for, others´ feelings

Inability to relate to peers

Social isolation

Inability to express emotions

Poor gaze or eye-contact

A non-existence of, delay in, or even loss of language development. Atypical or nonfunctional use of language

Another neighbor, who often took walks with Elizabeth, said that Elizabeth had told her that she had experienced a “nervous breakdown” within the last six weeks or so.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, a 2006 study indicated that about one of every 10 births in the United States produces a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). There is a wide range to this spectrum.

Although some people who have milder disabilities within the autism spectrum can be somewhat self-reliant, others, like George, are profoundly unable to cope by themselves.

The neighbors had seen the strains of caring for her son taking a toll on Elizabeth. “Although the son has spent most of his life going to the Morgan Autism Center in San Jose each day, he left the program in December and had been at home with his mother full time since then,” reports the San Jose Mercury News. When Lester was not at work, he also cared for George.

California requires school districts to provide services to those with autism until they reach age 22. Then it becomes more difficult find them adequate care, especially with the belt-tightening going on in most state governments. Executive Director Jennifer Sullivan said the Hodginses removed George from Morgan Autism Center because they wanted to find something more appropriate and community oriented for him, according to the Mercury News.

As neighbor Jacquie Jauch related, “She said she was tired and having a difficult time getting him into a program. She couldn’t find one that would take him. She was tired, tired and very lonely. She said she couldn’t take it anymore – take care of him.”

Time and again, both in this blog and in our book, Enough of Us, we have discussed the gamble involved in having children. The tragedy in the lives of George, Elizabeth and Lester Hodgins is just one example.

Whether or not any individual favors the notion that people should refrain from the gamble involved in producing kids, we think it’s safe to say that everyone should think twice before doing so. We don’t know how many people consider it in a detached and thoughtful manner, but not to do so begs the question, “Why did this happen to us?” for anyone hit by tragedy inflicting their children.

Comments

I have mild Asperger’s should I not reproduce? What in the world is this site about? I think people need to take an IQ test before they reproduce myself, the problem is that we do not have proper testing methods to test those on the ASD scale, and other types of intelligence. People with Asperger’s can pass the paper iq test with flying colors, so why shouldn’t they reproduce? They are on the ASD scale.

This is one unfortunate case of a very disturbed woman. She probably wasn’t smart enough to understand what it could possibly be like to be autistic. Whether the child has mild ASD, or severe, murdering humans one does not understand is unconscionable. We need to find a cure for normal. Normal people shouldn’t reproduce, it’s dumbing down the Earth.

Rebecca,
We appreciate your taking the time to express your feelings. The blog post does not say people with particular disorders should not reproduce. Cheryl’s own brother has moderate Asperger’s. We are not saying that George Hodgins inflicted pain upon his parents. We’re saying that his well-intentioned parents inflicted him, and subsequently themselves, with a very difficult life.
If you have the time, why not read a few of our blog posts and decide for yourself if we are making valid points? We are saying that EVERYONE should give thought to the possible consequences of human reproduction, like species depletion, natural resource shortages, environmental destructionm, water wars, and the possibility that instead of a child like Jonas Salk, their offspring could end up like the soldier who shot 21 innocent people in Afghanistan.One percent of all American adults lives in prison or jail, and one of every 15 will do so.
Please read a few of our weekly posts and then decide what we’re about.
Thanks, Cheryl and Ellis

1/3 of people in jail have thyroid issues, another 1/3 have Lyme disease, and many, many have Aspergers. Maybe if they had a support network, and proper resources, (especially emotional support in the Armed Forces,) we wouldn’t have any problem at all. It doesn’t mean people shouldn’t have children. I have one brother, who is a recovering heroin addict and in and out of jail, but then there is also me. We both had the same parents and upbringing, should my parents have not reproduced.

How about you pursue the approach of limiting the amount of children, instead of “not procreating at all”. I found this post via Austism groups, they are super pissed about this article. This is just one deranged lady, who couldn’t accept the fact that her son was different.

This isn’t just about autism. This incident is one of almost infinite aspects of human reproduction. We wrote it as one of many articles about the possible consequences of human reproduction. Please do not take it out of context. Please read our last four or five blog posts to get a better idea of what we’re about. We also refer you to these articles:

Hi there! This article couldn’t be written much better!
Going through this post reminds me of my previous
roommate! He constantly kept preaching about this. I most certainly will forward this post to
him. Pretty sure he’s going to have a good
read. Thanks for sharing!